Asus Unveils 'Taichi' Dual-Screen Notebook/Tablet Hybrid at Computex

Having trouble deciding between a notebook or a tablet? Asus invites you to splurge on both by announcing the Taichi at this year's Computex convention. The Taichi isn't unique for the fact that it's a hybrid notebook that pulls double duty as a tablet PC -- there are plenty of other products on the market that pull off the same trick -- but it's unlike anything else out there because it's the first hybrid with a double-sided IPS screen that we're aware of.

Flip open the lid and the Taichi is just like any notebook (one with an IPS display), Asus says. It has a full-size QWERTY keyboard with LED backlight and trackpad, 3rd Generation Intel Core i7 (Ivy Bridge) processor options, 4GB of DDR3 memory, solid state storage options, dual-band 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi, and front and rear facing cameras.

Close the lid and the other side reveals a second IPS display with multi-touch support. It shares the same hardware as the notebook configuration, which may not do battery life any favors, but imagine having an Ivy Bridge processor power your tablet. Way cool.

The Taichi will be available in both 11.6-inch and 13.3-inch configurations. No word yet on price or availability.

Comments

That's incredibly stupid - it might be handy to have the touchscreen and keyboard at once, and also, there's one more thing to worry about cracking. And it costs more... No thanks, I'd prefer that they stick with the traditional tablet/clamshell form factor.

So, I have two screens to worry about cracking instead of one? no thanks, I'll pass, especially the first time the thing malfunctions and shows what's on the laptop screen on the tablet screen for anyone sitting across from me to see.